1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to building protection systems, and more specifically, to a system for controlling a household water supply.
2. Background of the Invention
Prevention of loss due to water damage in both residential and commercial locations has long been a concern and have been addressed in various manners in the past, the simplest of which are sump pumps or floor water presence detector. More recently, mold damage and other damage due to humidity has become a concern, in part, because health risks due to the presence of airborne “black mold” spores and damage and health risks cause by other fungi are better appreciated.
Maintaining an acceptable level of average humidity can be accomplished with dehumidifiers or by the action of heating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. However, an excess amount of humidity can indicate the presence of standing water or a roof leak that should be corrected or mold growth and other damage to building materials may quickly result. Water system leaks can also contribute to an excessive amount of humidity or standing water. A rapid response to prevent damage from such leaks is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,724 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A HOUSEHOLD WATER SUPPLY”, issued to the present inventor and which is incorporated herein by reference, which discloses a system alarm that can be enabled when a house is unoccupied and shuts off the water supply when flow is detected. Further improvements so that the system can remain continuously active and determine whether a house is occupied are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,746 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A HOUSEHOLD WATER SUPPLY INCORPORATING MOTION-SENSING FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A HOUSE IS OCCUPIED”, also issued to the present inventor and which is incorporated herein by reference.
However, the systems described in the above-incorporated U.S. Patent Applications use a flow meter to detect water leaks and it is possible that a very low level of water flow from a plumbing system leak can still cause damage, such as by promoting mold growth.
Therefore it would be desirable to provide a method and system for detection of water system leaks for detection of low-flow leaks that might be missed by a flow detection system.